Illumination modules based on light-emitting diodes (LEDs) represent an attractive alternative to incandescent lamps due to their smaller form factor, lower energy consumption, longer operational lifetime, and/or enhanced mechanical robustness. LED light modules also tend to generate less waste heat than incandescent lamps. LED chips approximate point sources of light and may be contained within packages that direct the LED light having a variety of different form factors and sizes. While such design flexibility can lead to innovative products difficult to reproduce with incandescent bulbs, LED lighting modules do present challenges. For example, while LEDs tend to produce less heat than incandescent lighting, they do produce heat that may require dissipation in order to preserve the operational capabilities of the LED light over an expected lifetime. Furthermore, each individual LED or LED-based lighting module may produce insufficient light for particular applications (e.g., illumination of large areas or of paths with complicated footprints or shapes). While multiple LED-based light sources may be utilized in such applications, the packaging for many conventional LED-based light sources is not designed to facilitate the interconnection of several different light sources to form a single illumination region emitting light that is of substantially uniform intensity over its area.
In light of the foregoing, there is a need for LED-based lighting devices having a modular mounting system that can accommodate multiple LED light modules without risking damage to any of them, facilitate heat conduction away from the modules, and produce uniform illumination, the emission direction of which may be easily changed on a module-by-module basis.